Zou Yaoyao
The author (first from left) with Professor Coty (second from left) and other teachers while studying in Italy.
Professor Coty (back row, second from right) and his entourage conducted a geological investigation at the "Golden Nail" of Huanghuachang in Yichang, Hubei Province. The first from the right in the front row is the author. All images in this article are courtesy of the author
China was dear to him
I met Professor Giacomo Coty in the fall of 2019. Professor Coty is a well-known expert in the field of the evolution and dynamics of the continental rift. At that time, at the invitation of my supervisor, Professor Shen Chuanbo, Professor Coty came to China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) for an academic visit and exchange. Under the leadership of my mentor, I am participating in the "13th Five-Year Plan" National Oil and Gas Science and Technology Major Project, and conducting petroleum geology research in the Great Rift Valley. I was thrilled by Professor Coty's research interests that were very relevant to the research topics I was involved in, and I took the initiative to participate in the reception of Professor Coty.
Professor Coty, a very enthusiastic and talkative Italian scholar, told me that his previous impression of China came from the Chinese foreign aid construction teams he often encountered during geological expeditions in Africa. The large-scale modernization project they built surprised Professor Coty and made him curious and looking forward to distant China. This time, he finally had the opportunity to come to China for academic visits and exchanges, and to get closer to this country.
We took Professor Coty to visit the Key Laboratory of Structure and Petroleum Resources of the Ministry of Education, where the team is located, and Professor Coty gave a special academic report to the teachers and students of the laboratory. Everyone was very interested in the evolution model of the rift basin established by Professor Coty and the unique physical simulation technology of hypergravity structure of his team, and asked Professor Coty questions and advice. Professor Coty was deeply impressed by the enthusiasm and told me that he saw a sense of vigor in young scholars in China, who were willing to ask questions and be willing to communicate. He felt our passion for exploring the unknown and our love for geological research.
After the academic exchange, Professor Coty and I visited the Yangtze River and East Lake, and tasted Wuhan's special delicacies, such as hot dry noodles and glutinous rice chicken. Professor Coty is no stranger to noodles and rice, and he told us that it is similar to pasta and rice balls. Later, I realized that the food habits may have something to do with the exchanges between China and Italy between the two ancient civilizations, from Marco Polo's travels in China to today's technological and cultural interactions.
It was this acquaintance with Professor Coty that kicked off my exchange study trip to Italy. In 2022, with the support of the China Scholarship Council, I came to Florence, Italy for a joint doctoral program, and Professor Coty was my supervisor to guide me to conduct simulation experiments on the tectonic evolution of the Great Rift Valley.
Professor Coty's Structural Simulation Laboratory is a fairly international laboratory that is visited and studied by students and scholars from different countries. In his coffee time after research, Professor Coty often shares with me what he has seen in China, which he says makes him feel delighted. As time went on, my work in the lab was also recognized by him, and he told me that he hoped to deepen scientific cooperation with China, and welcomed us to recommend more Chinese doctoral students to study and exchange in Florence.
I especially love the Three Gorges landscape
In November 2023, at the invitation of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Professor Coty and his research team came to China for another academic visit. This time, I became Professor Coty's guide for his visit to China.
Professor Coty was very happy to be back in Wuhan after four years. At the symposium on "Continental Rift System and Magmatic Hydrothermal Activity" organized by the university, Professor Coty and his colleagues gave a special report, focusing on the latest progress in the study of continental rift evolution and the significance of oil and gas and mineral resources exploration. After the meeting, we also took Professor Coty and his entourage to visit the new campus and laboratory, and walked into the streets and alleys of Wuhan full of human fireworks, and felt the development and changes of the city.
Standing on the banks of the Yangtze River, Professor Coty told me that Wuhan was more vibrant than the last time he came. He saw a more ecological campus and advanced laboratories, and appreciated the beauty of the city of Wuhan.
At the end of our trip in Wuhan, we drove to Yichang, Hubei Province for a field geological expedition. There is the magnificent landscape of the high gorge and the Pinghu Lake, the world-renowned super project - the Three Gorges Dam, and the important scientific symbol "Golden Nail" in international geological research.
In the Three Gorges in November, the towering peaks loom in the clouds, and the rushing river passes through the Xiling Gorge all the way to the east. We climbed to an observation deck at the top of the riverside and looked out over the landscape and the majestic Three Gorges Dam.
As a geologist, Professor Coty said he was particularly fond of the Three Gorges landscape and was amazed by the construction of the project. I told Professor Coty about the story of the Three Gorges. Li Daoyuan, a geographer of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, once described the Three Gorges in the "Notes on the Book of Water" that "there are mountains on both sides of the river, and there is no place for it." Heavy rocks are stacked, hidden from the sky and the sun". When I talked about the ecological and environmental protection work in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, Professor Coty gave me a thumbs up. He said that this is a beautiful picture of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
On the side of the Xiajiang River, we visited the "Golden Nail" of Yichang Huanghuachang. The "Golden Nail" is the only criterion for defining and distinguishing the strata formed by different ages around the world, so as to solve the problem of temporal comparison of global geological history. The establishment of the "Golden Nail" of Huanghuachang provides a unified time scale for geologists to study important geological events such as global sea level change, plate movement, and paleontological evolution during this period.
Professor Coty is interested in the construction and protection of the "Golden Nail" geological section of Yichang Huanghuachang. Professor Coty learned that in the process of the birth of the "Golden Nail" of Huanghuachang, China's geological research institutions, represented by the China Geological Survey, have carried out a lot of cooperation, research, exchanges and demonstrations with scholars from all over the world. Today, Chinese geologists and local authorities are still meticulously protecting this important international scientific marker, and warmly welcome researchers from all over the world to visit and investigate. The professor praised the protection of the "Golden Nail" in Huanghuachang, saying that the "Golden Nail" is not only an important scientific symbol in geological research, but also an important place for international academic exchanges in earth science. I have examined the "golden nail" profiles in many countries, and for various reasons, many of them have not been well protected.
Professor Coty's trip to China ended in a week or so. In the future, there are also students who will leave for Italy to study, and scientific cooperation will move forward in the efforts of generations of scholars.
(The author is a doctoral student jointly trained by China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and the University of Florence, Italy)